Trick Or Drabble 2011
by rensahannou
Summary: Collection of one-shots written for requests at Trick or Drabble 2011 on the BTR LJ comm.  Ratings & summaries vary.
1. Sharing Is Caring

**Author's Note:**

This is a collection of unrelated one-shots written for Trick Or Drabble 2011 over on the BTR LiveJournal community. Each one was written in response to a different prompt, so they vary in rating and theme. I'll include the prompts for each one instead of writing a summary. Oh, and they're all untitled because I suck at titles :)

**Disclaimer:** Not my boys, though I kind of love them like they were.

**Rating:** K

**Prompt from shisou_eimin:**

I want kid!btr trick or treating together with a focus on Logan and Carlos' friendship(including them bickering and Logan telling Carlos not to eat too much candy with Carlos not listening and ending up with a tummy ache by the end of the night).

* * *

><p>"Carlos, wait!"<p>

Logan grabbed Carlos by the arm before his foot could hit the pavement. "What's up?" Carlos asked. "Did we skip a house?"

"No," Logan said, shaking his head. "You have to look both ways before you cross the street! You know that!"

"But...there's only one way to look. It's a dead end."

Logan let go of Carlos's arm with a slight huff. "Doesn't matter. You should still look. Right Kendall?" he asked as their friend walked up behind them.

"Huh?" Kendall looked up from his bag of candy. "Oh, no, I'm with Carlos. Dead end, there's not any traffic. Hey James, how much did you get from that last house?"

"I dunno," James answered, and now they were all crossing the stupid street without even looking _one_ way first. Another huff, and Logan gave a slight tug on his doctor's coat, looked _both ways_—even if one way was just a field instead of a road—and followed them. "More than you did."

"You wish."

"_You_ wish."

"I wish what?"

"That you were as cool as me."

Logan jogged past the two arguers to catch up with Carlos again. "Carlos," he said quickly, trying to get this out before they reached the porch, "you're supposed to be a cop, right? Safety is important."

"Oh." Carlos stopped walking and turned to Logan, his eyes wide and a little sad. "Don't tell my dad, okay?"

"I won't," Logan told him, satisfied that Carlos now saw the error of his ways. He tugged on his friend's arm again to keep him moving. "C'mon, before James and Kendall get there first and take all the good candy."

Carlos didn't need to be told twice, and a second later they were dashing up to the door and knocking excitedly. "Trick-or-treat!" they said in unison as the door was opened. Unfortunately they didn't get to pick their own candy, but they got some good stuff anyway. As James and Kendall were walking up the steps behind them Logan and Carlos jumped off the porch and headed to the next house, but they didn't get far before Mrs. Knight was yelling at them as she walked up the yard with Katie.

"Hey, you boys stay together!"

They stopped, both with a sigh, to wait for their friends, who of course were arguing again. "It's not fair you got a Reese's when I only got Tootsie Rolls," James said. Well, whined, really.

"It's because my costume's better."

"Nuh-uh, mine is. I have a suit." James set his briefcase on the ground to run a hand down the front of his jacket, smoothing it. His costume wasn't really a _costume_, since he was just wearing the suit his mom had bought him that summer for some fancy dinner or something. But he'd filled up one of his mom's briefcases with product information packets and was calling himself a 'Brooke Diamond Cosmetics Sales Representative.' Like three different ladies had actually tried to order stuff from him already.

"Well I have a _sword_," Kendall shot back. Logan eyed him wearily, hoping they weren't about to have another sword vs. briefcase fight.

"Yeah a _fake_ one. What'd you get, Carlos?"

"I dunno," Carlos said with a shrug. "Can we go to the next house now?"

"He got a Butterfinger and some SweeTarts," Logan told them.

"Dude! Can I have the Butterfinger?" James asked.

"No!" Carlos pulled his candy bag close to his chest.

"Come on, you don't even like Butterfingers!"

"Yes I do!"

"Well not as much as I do!"

"James!" Logan cut in when it seemed like Kendall wasn't going to—in fact, Logan noticed as he looked around, Kendall was gone already. "You can't take his candy!"

"I don't wanna _take _it, I'll trade for it. Want some Tootsie Rolls, Carlos?"

"Not until we get home, boys," Mrs. Knight said, suddenly appearing beside them. "You can divvy up everything then. Now go on, Kendall's already knocking on the door."

"He is?" James asked, head jerking in the direction of the next house. "And he's got Katie with him now? That's totally cheating!" James took off, Logan and Carlos on his heels.

Logan didn't so much care about who got the most candy, but James was right, going to the door with your little sister was definitely cheating. Especially since they had matching outfits—Kendall as a (historically inaccurate) medieval knight and Katie as some sort of weird fluffy dragon.

After that house James and Kendall started arguing over who got to 'use' Katie next, and before Carlos could get in on the argument Logan grabbed his arm and pulled him away.

"I don't want them to win," Carlos protested.

"They always win," Logan reminded him. "'Cause they cheat. And anyway, I was watching the kids before us. At this house we get to pick our own candy, so c'mon." Carlos grinned at that and followed along eagerly.

"Trick-or-treat!" they said again, and as the bowl was held out to them Logan could see the gleam in Carlos's eyes. "Don't be greedy," he warned his friend.

Carlos paused with his hand halfway to the bowl and turned to Logan, bottom lip stuck out. "I'm not greedy, Logan."

"Uh-huh, sometimes."

"Nuh-uh! I'm never greedy. Here, I'll get your candy and you can get mine. Okay?" Carlos grabbed a handful of candy and waited for Logan to open his bag so he could drop it in. Then he held his own bag out to Logan expectantly.

Logan made a face and took a few pieces of candy from the bowl and dropped them into the bag. Then he heard a chuckle and looked up at the lady holding the bowl.

"Oh come on now, he gave you more than that!" she said with a smile.

His cheeks getting hot, Logan reached into the bowl again to give Carlos some more candy, who just stood there beaming. "Thanks Logan."

"You're welcome," Logan mumbled.

"You boys are so cute," the lady said, and they both turned to look at her. "Here, I save these for special trick-or-treaters. You can each pick one, okay?"

She ducked back into the house for a second and came back with another bowl—this one full of king-size candy bars. Logan and Carlos exchanged a wide-eyed _'Jackpot!'_ look before they each hovered a hand over the bowl, trying to decide what to pick. Logan spotted a Snickers and went for it, then shoved it in his bag.

"Thank you!" they told the lady, matching grins on their faces before they spun around, fist-bumped, and then ran off the porch.

Kendall and James were waiting for them, along with Mrs. Knight and Katie, at the side of the yard. "Aren't you guys gonna go get some candy?" Carlos asked them.

"We're not allowed," James pouted.

"We made Katie cry," Kendall explained. At least he sounded guilty.

Logan glanced at Katie and saw she was still sniffling a little. Then Carlos was in front of her, kneeling down some. "Want a piece of my candy?" he asked. She nodded, rubbing at her eyes, and then Carlos fished a small piece of candy out of his bag and handed it to her.

"What do you say, Katie?" Mrs. Knight said with a smile.

"Thank you," she sniffled, clutching the candy.

"Here, you can have a piece of mine too," Kendall said, squatting so he was eye-level with his sister and rooting around in his bag.

Well, if they were both doing it... "Mine too," Logan added, opening his bag and peering in for something he could bear to part with.

After the three of them had each given a piece of candy to Katie, all of them—even Mrs. Knight, and if Logan wasn't imagining things even _Katie_—turned to look at James.

He stuck his lip out at them for a second, before looking down at Katie. Then his shoulders slumped a little and he stepped forward, mumbling "Mine too." Katie thanked him with a grin, and he patted her head.

"Okay, you can go to the next house now," Mrs. Knight said, and then James and Kendall were gone in a flash.

"Wait up!" Logan and Carlos called after them, running to catch up.

—

"My pile's bigger."

"No it's not."

"It is too Kendall, look. Yours is only this big—" there was a pause, but Logan didn't bother looking up to see James's inaccurate measuring attempts— "and mine is _this_ big."

"You moved your hands!"

"I did not!"

"I got more than Logan did!" Carlos chimed in.

"No you didn't," Logan said automatically, again not glancing away from sorting his candy into the 'keep' and 'trade' piles.

"Uh-huh. I just ate some of it already."

"What?" He did look up at that, to glare at Carlos. "You're not supposed to eat any of it before we trade! You know that, Carlos!"

"It's not a big deal," Kendall said.

"It is too! Those are the _rules_, Carlos!" Logan went on, pointing a finger at his friend now.

"Well it's a stupid rule!" Carlos shot back. "I wasn't going to trade that stuff anyway."

"How much did you eat?" Logan demanded.

"...Huh?"

"How much candy! Three pieces, five, 20?"

"Um...I dunno?"

"Where are the wrappers?"

"Um. Here's one," Carlos said, picking an empty wrapper out of his candy pile. "And here's another one..."

Logan dove at the candy, rummaging through it and picking out all the wrappers he could find. There were...a lot of them. Logan gestured at them all. "Carlos!"

"What? It's my candy, Logan! I can eat it if I wanna!"

"But we're supposed to trade first! Plus you're gonna make yourself sick eating that much."

"Whatever, I'm not gonna get sick. So can we trade now?"

"I want the Butterfinger," James said immediately.

"You can't have it," Carlos said, sticking his tongue out.

"You can have mine, James," Logan said with an irritated sigh. His friends had no respect for rules. "What'll you give me for it?"

With the exchange of a Butterfinger for a small pack of M&Ms—an excellent trade, in Logan's opinion—the bartering process began in earnest. Logan was the pickiest one, preferring mostly chocolate, and not that generic crap if he could help it. James was also fairly picky and liked chocolate best, and he was also way better at getting exactly what he wanted than Logan was, which sucked. Kendall didn't really care what he got, but he had a soft spot for anything with caramel that the other boys could use to their advantage. Carlos would eat just about anything, but he tended to choose all things sugary, sour, and gummy over stuff with chocolate. Overall they were pretty well balanced in their Halloween candy preferences, which meant by the end of the exchange everyone was happy. Even Logan, who consoled himself over James getting the best chocolate by remembering the giant Snickers he still had hidden in his bag.

Logan carefully picked out three pieces of candy to eat right away and shoved the rest of it back in his bag on top of the Snickers. He really wanted to brag about that one, but if he did that James and Kendall would either guilt him into sharing it or just steal it from him and he _really_ wanted that Snickers bar all to himself.

As he unwrapped his first piece of chocolate Logan watched his friends shoveling candy into their mouths and rolled his eyes. "You're all gonna get sick," he muttered.

Kendall was the first of the three to quit. He tied up his bag and darted out of the room with it, telling the other boys not to follow him.

"Think he's hidin' it in the same place as last year?" Carlos asked around a mouthful of...something.

"Probably," James said, searching his pile for his next victim.

"Think he'll notice when we start stealing from it?"

"Probably not," Logan answered.

A minute later Kendall returned, and not long after that James gave up as well, shoving the rest of his candy in his bag with a disgusted snorting sound. "I'm never even looking at another piece of candy ever again. Logan, why'd you let me eat that much?"

Logan's mouth dropped open, and he sputtered for a second before narrowing his eyes and flicking an empty wrapper at James's head.

"I'll take your candy if you don't want it," Carlos offered, holding out a hand.

"No way!" James said immediately, clutching his bag. Carlos shrugged and popped another piece of candy in his mouth.

"Carlos," Logan warned, "if you don't stop you're gonna throw up everywhere. And you won't have any candy left for tomorrow."

"I still have the giant Twix bar."

All three of them stared at him, Logan in disbelief that he was giving away their secret, Kendall and James with a sort of renewed hunger in their eyes.

"Where'd you get a giant Twix bar?" they both demanded.

"Um...from that one house. When you guys were in trouble."

"Did you get one too?" James asked Logan, eyes narrowed.

"Um...no." Well it wasn't a _lie_.

"He got somethin' else, right Logan?"

"Carlos!" Logan hit him, but he didn't even say 'ow.'

"So you guys were holdin' out on us, huh?" Kendall asked.

"I was gonna share it," Carlos said, then reached in his bag to pull out the candy. "See? It has four of 'em!"

Now Kendall and James were both looking at Logan, eyebrows raised. "I'm not sharing!" Logan told them, his lip stuck out, holding his bag of candy in his lap.

"It's your candy Logan, you can eat it if you wanna," Carlos said with a smile.

For whatever reason that actually make Logan feel bad. "...Maybe I'll share it tomorrow," he mumbled. "And Carlos you need to save that till tomorrow too."

"Okay," Carlos said, but then he looked at the others. "Okay guys?"

James opened his mouth but Kendall spoke first. "Yep, that's cool, Carlos. We've had enough for tonight. Wanna watch scary movies now?"

They changed into their pajamas—Friday nights made for the best Halloweens, 'cause none of them had to go home—and all piled on the couch. Kendall found something on TV for them to watch, but not 15 minutes later Carlos started to make sad whimpering noises next to Logan.

"What's the matter? Is it too scary?" Logan asked him.

Carlos shook his head, and looking at his pained expression made everything click.

"Your tummy hurts, doesn't it?"

There was no answer, but Carlos's lip started to tremble.

"C'mon," Logan sighed, sliding off the couch.

"Where?"

"Kendall's room. You should lay down."

"I wanna watch the movie!"

"What's goin' on?" Kendall asked.

"Carlos is sick," Logan explained.

"I'm not sick!" Carlos protested.

"Your tummy hurts."

"Only a little."

"Should we wake up your mom?" James asked Kendall.

He shook his head. "No, she's tired. Logan knows what to do, right?"

"Yeah, he should go lay down," Logan repeated.

"I wanna watch the movie, Kendall," Carlos pouted.

"Can't he lay down in here, Logan?" Kendall asked, glancing from one of them to the other.

Logan sighed again, figuring it wasn't worth the argument. "Fine. Come help me get some medicine, Kendall."

At that Carlos looked scared. "Medicine?"

"It'll help you feel better, Carlos," Logan said, repeating what his own mother always told him. "Don't you wanna feel better?"

Carlos just nodded, lip still stuck out, hands now clutching at his stomach.

Logan smiled. "Okay, then we'll be right back."

Kendall showed Logan where they kept the medicine, and Logan found the same pink stuff his mom gave him when he had a tummy ache. He took it and a small measuring cup back into the living room.

It took some arguing and bartering and threatening (specifically to throw the rest of his candy away), but eventually Logan got Carlos to take the medicine (making a face the whole time). Logan put the rest of it back where he got it, then retook his spot on the couch.

"Now lay down," he instructed Carlos.

Logan hadn't really meant 'on my lap' when he said it, but that's where Carlos was now and once again, arguing was probably pointless. So Logan just took the blanket Kendall was handing him and opened it out over his friend, then settled back and watched the movie for as long as his eyes would stay open.


	2. Sidekicks Are A Liability

**Rating:** T (...sort of but not really)

**Prompt from spacematadors:**

this is pretty inspired by bt superheroes, so i know it sounds silly, but what about some sort of au where bandanaman is a lone ranger type of crimefighter who hates help and refuses it, thinking he can take everything on his own, until he gets in a little too much trouble one day and gets injured a lot more than he'd like to admit, until logan (who can be his friend, a random civilian, etc, doesn't matter!) tries to help him, despite james' refusals. and then, james reluctantly gives in, allowing logan to help him get better or whatever, and james is so impressed he kind of forces logan into becoming his sidekick: the surgeon! (...WHERE THEY EVENTUALLY FALL IN LOVE? possibly?) 

* * *

><p>"Do you have to do that so...seductively?"<p>

"What?" Logan looked up, eyebrow raised. "I'm just putting on a glove."

James shrugged slightly, gaze still fixated on Logan's hand. "Yeah, but it's...distracting."

Logan sighed. "Look, you're the one who wanted me to do this, if I'm going to be a distraction or whatever then—"

"No!" James interrupted, eyes meeting Logan's. "It's okay. You're coming with me."

"Okay, then can I put the rest of this ridiculous costume on in peace?"

"Yeah, sure," James said, turning away before he muttered under his breath, "And it's not ridiculous, it's _hot_."

Honestly, James wasn't sure this was such a good idea, having Logan join him in his crime-fighting. The guy was _going_ to be a distraction, there was no getting around that. But at this point, _not_ having him there would probably be even more of a distraction.

None of it was supposed to happen. James—well, Bandana Man, rather—wasn't supposed to get hurt. He wasn't supposed to be taken care of by some hot med school student. He _really _wasn't supposed to let Logan in the way he had during that long-ass recovery period, allowing the young genius to lecture him on how he really shouldn't be out there alone all the time and then deciding somewhere along the way that he _wouldn't_ be alone anymore. He would have Logan.

Logan was not as enthusiastic about this idea as James had hoped, but James was persistent. Once he was far enough along in his recovery he got Logan to train with him, discovering there was a quite capable—and by capable, James mostly meant athletic and well-built, but also really really hot—body buried under those sweater-vests and pocket protectors.

And Logan had ideas about everything to do with being a superhero, especially about how to utilize technology for crime-fighting and James didn't really understand most of it but he let Logan run with it, giving him whatever he needed to build crazy gadgets that James couldn't help getting excited over.

So James wasn't really sure whether it was because Logan secretly thought being a superhero sounded awesome, or if it was just that he wanted to make sure James didn't screw up and get himself hurt again—he would take either one, preferably whichever also included the possibility that Logan wanted to rip all those bandanas away and have his way with James after they'd saved the world together—but somehow they had ended up here. Here, with James sneaking glances at Logan as he put the finishing touches on his costume before they headed out together for the first time.

"You ready?" James asked.

"I guess," Logan—well, The Surgeon, now—sighed. "But um, James?" James cocked an eyebrow at him, and Logan rolled his eyes. "_Bandana Man_?"

"Yes?"

"I don't...if I really will be a distraction, I don't think...I don't want you to get hurt again, okay? Especially not because of me. I mean, I don't even know what I'm _doing_..."

"You'll learn," James said, grinning. "We'll start off small, and you'll learn. You are a genius, after all. And I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"

It was hard to tell with the surgical mask covering his face but James could've sworn Logan was blushing. "Just don't let anything happen to _you_ either. Your injuries are healed, but that doesn't mean you can go crazy yet. As long as we both get back here in one piece I'll consider the night a success."

"Hmm," James said non-committally. He had his own ideas for a successful night, all of which involved either taking down punks or Logan ending up in way less clothing and most of which involved both.

"I mean it James, play it safe tonight. If not for your own sake then for mine." He was raising an eyebrow at James, trying to look reprimanding, but there was a nervousness there James couldn't ignore.

"Got it," James said with a nod, smiling in a reassuring sort of way. "This is mostly a training run, so we'll take it easy. But watch the name, dude. In here it's fine, but out there..."

"I know. I'll be careful. And hopefully remember to respond to my own silly name."

"Hey, you picked it out. And it's cool. _The Surgeon_. Makes you sound hot. Or I could just call you 'doc'?"

There it was again, that maybe-blush. _You are so going to be a distraction, my hot young future-doctor friend_, James thought. But going out alone, after the weeks and weeks of having Logan at his side nearly constantly, just seemed...wrong. Like something James sort of never wanted to face again.

"Whatever, let's just do this." Logan turned away, slipping on his sunglasses and squaring his shoulders.

James walked up behind him, setting a hand on his shoulder. The adrenaline was already starting to rush through James and damn, he had missed this feeling. This was where he needed to be, and distraction or no he didn't want Logan anywhere else in the world but right here, right next to him.

"Well, sidekick—"

"Partner," Logan corrected.

"_Doc_," James said, trying not to smile, his voice deep as he leaned down, squeezing Logan's shoulder slightly. "Let's go kick some ass."


	3. Changing Seasons

**Author's Note:**

This is a collection of unrelated one-shots written for Trick Or Drabble 2011 over on the BTR LiveJournal community. Each one was written in response to a different prompt, so they vary in rating and theme. I'll include the prompts for each one instead of writing a summary. Oh, and they're all untitled because I suck at titles :)

Side note: The previous drabble (chapter 2) has exactly 1,111 words, including the notes at the beginning :D

**Disclaimer:** Not my boys, though I kind of love them like they were.

**Rating:** T (for language)

**Prompt from queenitsy:**

I would love something Minnesota-era, a year or two before they leave for LA. Either gen shenanigans or James/Logan pre-slash, but just general boys-being-boysness. Um. Prompt: changing seasons.

* * *

><p>"We're getting paid for this, right?"<p>

Three pairs of hands stopped moving and three pairs of eyes looked at James in disbelief.

"You're kidding, right?" Logan asked.

"What, this is _work_," James countered.

"We're just raking some leaves, dude," Carlos said.

"Yeah, for my _mom_," Kendall added. "Who, you know, does stuff for us _all the time_."

Logan and Carlos shook their heads while Kendall glared for another second before they all went back to work, raking the early-falling leaves into two big piles.

James watched them all for a moment, rake motionless in his hand, before he spoke again. "So that means we're _not _getting paid?"

"James!" Kendall shouted, not even bothering to look up at him again.

"Fine!" he huffed, and went back to raking.

"It's not like you're even doing very much," Logan muttered, loud enough for all of them to hear.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Mine and Kendall's leaf pile is way bigger than yours and Carlos's," Logan said, gesturing at the piles in question.

"That's because Carlos keeps trying to play in the leaves!" James shot back. Then he turned to Carlos. "Carlos, go mess up their pile. Like Logan said, it's bigger than ours. Way more fun to play in."

"Carlos, don't you dare!" Logan blocked the leaf pile with his body but it was too late, Carlos had already gotten that _look_ in his eyes and Logan's tiny frame didn't pose any sort of obstacle. Dropping his rake, Carlos ran at Logan with a grin, tackling him and landing them both in the pile of leaves.

Kendall laughed, watching as Logan tried to get away from Carlos, who was having none of that. James was just smirking in satisfaction until Logan started shouting "Carlos stop trying to shove leaves down my pants!" and then he was laughing too, before taking his rake and sweeping more leaves on top of the two of them.

After a second Kendall started to help him, and soon they had their two friends completely covered in leaves, while Carlos cackled and Logan shrieked. James and Kendall just kept laughing until there was a sudden "Ow! _Fuck!_" from Logan and everyone froze.

"Logan?" Carlos said, leaves falling away as he sat up.

"Logan," Kendall echoed, "are you—"

"Stupid rake!" Logan sat up as well, rubbing at his back, glaring at his discarded rake next to him.

"You okay?" James asked, not bothering to hide his chuckle.

"No, jerk," Logan said, turning the glare on James. "Now help me up."

Carlos reached over to brush leaves off of Logan's head and shoulders. "Sorry, buddy."

James took Logan's outstretched hand and pulled him to his feet, but on the way Logan's glare changed into a sneaky smile and a second later he was rubbing leaves into James's hair.

_Leaves_. Dirty, gross, slightly damp leaves. In his _hair_.

Logan's laugh was short-lived as James grabbed him and threw him back into the leaf pile, narrowly missing Carlos as he followed to enact his revenge. They wrestled for a little while but it was barely a contest; James had started working out that summer in preparation for high school and at this point he was pretty sure he could take any of his friends if it really came down to it. Not that it ever would, of course, but he still liked being stronger than them.

And it came in handy at times like this, when he could pin Logan to the ground and still have a hand free to grab those disgusting leaves and shove them under the collar of Logan's sweatshirt while he squirmed helplessly. "Asshole," Logan said with a glare that wasn't entirely believable.

"Hey, at least I'm not puttin' 'em down your pants," James shot back with a grin.

Logan stopped struggling and held still for a split-second while his expression changed, and then the hands that had been pushing at James were gone, only to be felt again at his waistband along with a cold dampness that could only be those damn leaves. James's eyes went wide in disbelief as Logan smirked up at him.

Using his free hand, James reached down and grabbed Logan's wrist as he was going for more leaves, feeling the fingers of Logan's other hand against the skin right above his jeans. Logan's expression changed again, almost like he was trapped, and now it was James's turn to look smug, except then he watched Logan's eyes flick from his captured hand to the other before confusion flashed across his face. And _now _James was starting to get weirdly warm in the cool autumn air, and he felt like he should probably jump up and maybe get back to raking or whatever but he also sort of really wanted to know what Logan would do if he just stayed here.

Logan looked up at him again finally, meeting his eyes with the confusion still there, like he was looking to James for answers but James really didn't even know what the question was. Then the fingers still on his skin moved, just the tiniest little bit, and James might have tightened his grip on Logan's wrist and might have even let out the tiniest little gasp before something barreled into him from the side and he found himself flat on his back next to Logan on the leaves.

"I rescued you, Logan," Carlos said triumphantly, sprawled half across James.

"Um, thanks," Logan replied after a second, sounding spacey. "Dude, Kendall, what happened to you?"

James shoved Carlos off of him and sat up, looking over at Kendall, who...looked sort of like a scarecrow, except instead of straw sticking out everywhere it was leaves. Everywhere.

"Carlos happened," Kendall said with a shrug. "Now come on guys, my mom's gonna be home soon and she's bringing us dinner so we should really have this done before she gets here. And now it kind of looks like we haven't even started yet." He waved an arm at the leaves that had been re-scattered over half the yard.

"Aww, it's okay Kendall, there's four of us so it won't take any time at all. Right Logan?" Carlos asked, looking across James to where Logan was standing up, brushing himself off.

Logan gave Carlos a look, but James knew as well as the rest of them it didn't mean anything. "As long as we can get the leaves bagged up before you decide to jump in them again, yeah."

Carlos grinned. "I'll be good." He held out a hand and Logan rolled his eyes before helping him to his feet.

James was still sitting on the ground as they walked away. "You okay?" Kendall asked him, reaching out to help James up as well.

"Yeah," James said, brushing the leaves out of his hair and then running his fingers through it. He was about to reach in his pocket for his lucky comb when he realized something and made a face. "Well, except for the _leaves in my pants!_" he said, louder than necessary so Logan would hear.

James started pulling the leaves out of his jeans as Kendall laughed, and Logan looked back to smirk again, his face tinged with pink. Whether it was a blush or just from the cool air and the raking James wasn't sure, but he liked the idea of it being at least partly the first one so that's what he told himself.


End file.
